Edmund berkeley



(No Model.)

E. BERKELEY.

SHIELD. No. 391,397. Patented Oct-E23, 1888.

.. Illiiil Witnesses. 5 KIWI/674260;".

Tnaya UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDMUND BERKELEY, OF PRINCE \VILLTAM COUNTY, VIRGINIA.

SHIELD.

BPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 391,397, dated October23, 1888. Application filed October 24,1887 Serial No. 253,228. (Nomodel.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDMUND BERKELEY, of the county of Prince William andState of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful improvements inShields; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the figures andletters of reference marked thereon.

My invention has for its object to provide an improved shield for theuse of soldiers, more particularly sharpshooters or skirmishers, in timeof war, that will at the same time protect the user from the bullets ofthe enemy and prevent the missiles from continuing their flight anddoing damage to others in the rear or to one side the shield.

Hcretoforc these shield devices designed for the protection of a personor persons have been constructed with two or more sides converging to apoint at the front, so that when a missile struck one of these it wouldbe deflected, but its flight would not necessarily be arrested, and,continuing, might do serious damage to others on either side the personprimarily protected. Dangers from this source are materially increasedby the use of the modern long-range small-arms, the missiles from whichare also capable of great penetrating power; and my present inventionconsists in an improved shield so shaped that the missiles strilcing itwill not be deflected and permitted to do execution in the rear, butwill be diverted, preferably,into the ground and rendered harmless; andit further consists in a certain improved construction which I will nowproceed to describe.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a view showing the manner ofusing my invention; Fig. 2, a longitudinal section through the shield;Fig. 8, a front elevation of the same; Fig. 4, asectional view of amodification.

Similar letters of reference in the several figures indicate the sameparts.

The shield, (designated by the letter A,) preferably of steel, chillediron, or some equally hard and impenetrable material, is constructedwith the top portion, 13, sloping toward the horizontal base, and thetwo sides 0 0 converging toward the rear, as shown. At the point atwhich the top and sides converge it is preferably made much thicker orharder than the sides and top, as at a, and the bottom is open, all soarranged that when resting upon the ground the tapering chamber will beformed, the ground forming the bottom. The walls and top portions may beof any desired thickness and the open end of the chamber be sufficientlylarge to effectually cover the body of a person lying horizontallybehind it. The top B is provided with an aperture, I), for the passageof the barrel of the rifle of the marksman using the shield.

The manner of using my invention will be apparent. The shield is placed,preferably, upon the ground, and may, if desired, be secured thereto byany suitable means-such as pins driven through eyes or loops at the rearor sideswith the open end toward the enemy, the area of the front beingsufficient to effectually protect his person,while his rifle may beinserted through the opening I), so as to permit his shooting withoutexposing himself.

Any missiles striking the front of the shield, instead of beingdeflected off to one sideor the other and permitted to do furtherexecution, are directed to the rear and base of the shield and caused tobury themselves in the ground, or to so expend their force upon there-enforced enda, thus effectually destroying them, and at the same timeprotecting the marksman lying behind.

It will be understood that instead of making the sides and top portionflat, as shown, they might be rounded and the Whole made in the shape ofa hollow cone divided from apex to center of base, with the open side onthe ground, so as to deflect the missiles in the same manner asdescribed; but I prefer the arrangement shown, as the high corners serveto protect the marksmans shoulders and offer a larger surface behindwhich he can manipulate his weapon.

Instead of permitting the missiles striking the shield from passing downinto the ground beneath the person, it may be desirable sometimes toemploy the hardened portion or recess c at the rear with a short forwardprojection, as shown, to prevent this and to serve as a pocket, intowhich the missiles pass and expend their force against the hardenedportion, and it will be noted that even where this is employed the pointof impact of the missiles will be below the center of the shield, andserve to press the shield more firmly to the surface on which it rests,and to overcome the tendency to lift it might exercise when striking.

Of course the same arrangement of shield or armor can be applied for usein connection with Gatling and other machine guns, the main object beingto render harmless missiles striking within the area of the front oropen side of the shield, and various modifications of the form of thedevice could be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described myinventiomwhat I claim as new is- 1. Thehereindescribed improved shield having the aperture open at thefront,with inclined top and converging side walls, forming theunobstructed tapering recess, the point of the recess at which the wallsconverge being below the center of the area covered by the open front,substantially as described.

2. The herein-described shield having the rearwardly-inclined top andthe converging side walls, the recess contained within said walls beingleft free and unobstructed, substantially as described.

3. The herein-described shield having the rearwardly-inclined top withthe perforation therein, the converging side walls, and the open bottom,the recess formed by said walls being left free and unobstructed, as setforth.

EDMUND BERKELEY.

\Vitnesses:

J. B. CHURCH, A. S. STEUART.

